Reviews by FlakyBiscuit:

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P poured one and a half bottles into an imperial nonic with a godd rich amber tinged deep golden,a one finger bone white head atop.Aromas of grapefruit rind,sweet alcohol,and a bit more grassy hoppiness.Sharp and in your face grapefruit flavors along with some grassy/herbal hops over top of sweet sugary alcohol,it's sweet but the hops win out here.Alot if not most of the beer of this style are too sugary sweet,this is pretty sweet but it has intense hops to combat that sweetness,a great beer from what I consider a top 3 in the midwest brewery.

Can never turn down a new brew from Great Lakes. Especially a DIPA. Alchemy Hour pours out seemingly thick and quiet into the glass - amber in color with light, copper edges and decent clarity. A thick, foamy head emerges slowly; light beige, leaving very nice lacing on its way down.

The aroma is quite nice; tropical and fruity with noticeable mango, pineapple, and guava. Right alongside the tropical madness is a spicy counterpart, made up of light white pepper and a mildly abrasive hop profile; ashy, herbal, leafy. Caramel malts are plentiful enough to be picked out on the nose, but it's not fooling anybody. This beer is all about the hops, and the aroma will clearly signify that.

Mild sweetness in the form of honey-coated tropical fruits; oranges, pineapple, apricot - just a few of the things I notice upon taking my first sip. Immediately after, however, I'm quickly hit with a growing bitterness and the vegetal hops come alive before you get a chance to appreciate the citrus. Earthy, herbal, and a bit of spice, most likely white pepper. Some light alcohol is present in the taste and provides a strong, warming feeling. Malts give off a solid and surprisingly well-balanced attack of light buttered bread and caramel. There's a nice, lasting bitterness in the aftertaste with a dying ashy hop flavor - very mild citrus.

So being the slow drinker I am, I actually enjoyed this over the course of close to 45 minutes. And by the end, as the temperature of the beer got much closer to room, the flavor profile changed quite a bit. The bitterness was much more tame, there was a big-time honey flavor in the aftertaste, and the fruits just exploded - such juicy grapefruit, mango, pineapple, apricot - again, all sealed with a sweet honey coating. It almost felt like I was drinking two different beers - both of which were delicious. The ashy and bitter DIPA mixed with the fruity and sweet DIPA. Quite impressive. A bit sticky on the mouth, full bodied and slick.

Great Lakes basically never lets me down. Alchemy Hour is no exception. This is a fantastic, readily available (in the Midwest) DIPA with a great flavor profile, and I was lucky enough to have a few bottles that were barely two weeks old. I'll definitely be getting more.

Quite simply the best thing Great Lakes has done. And they don't miss often. Good hop up front but mellows quite nicely. The ABV is sneaky on this one. A couple pints of this will surely wash away the rigors of the day. If HopSlam was to your liking, then you have just found a fine substitute.